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Cauliflower Sloppy Joes
Hey all, Happy Monday to you! I am going to start off this post asking you to bear with me today as I get a bit off topic. Of course, you can always just feel free to just skip ahead to the recipe, while I rant. I have just had so much on my mind these past few weeks as I work my way through this elimination diet, as well as the several other transitional journeys I have found myself embarking on.
Something that has been weighing heavily on me is the idea of identifying yourself with certain traits or the things that you think make you, who you are. What we think people see when they look at us. Our ego. We all have many traits that we identify with. Maybe it’s your job or career path, maybe you are always the funny one in a group, maybe it’s you identifying with being quiet and shy or eating a certain way – whatever. With my diagnosis late last year of IgA Nephropathy, an autoimmune form of kidney disease and now being in the first rounds of this elimination diet, these together have caused me to challenge much of what I have always identified with.
Although I have had the restriction of gluten on my diet for over 10 years, I have still always identified with being a non-picky eater. For the most part I would try anything once (as long as it was safe), I was continuously up for checking out new restaurants and I was always happy to go with the flow of whatever food situation I was in, hanging with vegans, being around paleo folks and so on. I had gotten into a nice routine of knowing what was safe for me and how to communicate what I needed in a very clear and quiet way. Without passing judgement, I always truly felt bad for those that have a laundry list of restrictions (self imposed or otherwise), where going out to a restaurant or someone’s home becomes a hassle and every meal, a massive challenge. I have always been so grateful that beside the many, fairly simple, self-imposed restrictions I’ve put on my diet and of course, gluten – I would never ruin other people’s experience, I felt like I could keep it to myself and I could always find something I could eat, almost anywhere.
This elimination diet for me, which currently is no gluten (duh), meat, dairy, eggs and legumes, will continue to change and evolve as we work towards finding what might be affecting my kidneys. I now find myself having to have full blown interrogative-style conversations with servers at restaurants, grilling them about every single ingredient. Rather than a democracy, I basically have to tell whoever I am going out to eat with, where we are going, because my options are so limited. I walk the aisles of stores having to rethink what I used to buy and I now have to look at meal planning in a whole new way and sadly my husband is collateral damage to all of this. Though I have certainly been here before and for now, the extremity of the situation for me, is theoretically temporary, I also know for many of you this is normal, every day life! So, I hope you don’t confuse this as a complaint against dietary restrictions, but more I hope you take away the challenge in changing what we know, breaking habits and being forced to look beyond the outward of what we cling to.
Throughout this process, I have also found myself feeling vulnerable and weak, it took me forever to even be able to tell people about my diagnosis. I feel like people expect for me to be the picture of health, I am so careful and mindful about every single thing I consume, I talk a big game about how important it is to know where your food comes from, avoiding processed foods, opting to make things yourself and taking control of your health with your diet. Now somehow, here I am, the one diagnosed with kidney disease and battling a slew of random symptoms from taking a few rounds of pharmaceuticals. I have always prided myself on taking control of my health and avoiding crazy treatments or drugs and those closest to me could see the changes in my health from where it was before, to where it was after years of eating mindfully. So, you can imagine the discouragement I felt with this diagnosis. I truly felt like I had lost a sense of who I was.
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Sloppy Joes – Gluten-free + Vegan
It is so rare that I make a dish that is meant to simulate an actual meat dish, but sometimes there are those old classic comfort foods that need to be re-imagined and updated. Hubby and I do eat meat, although at most we eat it once a week at home, and we get all of our meat from a local farmer, Sojourner Farms, who raises all of his meat on pasture without hormones or antibiotics. Since we tend to try to make the meat from him last, I make many vegan meals throughout the week, which not only is easier on my digestion it just feels better.
I’ve made these vegan sloppy joes a few times now and they have been a huge hit over here. Mark asks for them on almost a weekly basis. The first couple of times I made them, I didn’t really measure, I just added ingredients as it cooked, tasting and deciding what it needed. That is my favorite way to cook. I think I have the recipe pretty close to the way I like it, but I am known to squirt in a little more sriracha or add another spoonful of mustard.
These sloppy joes taste much like the original, but in my opinion even better. The sauce has so much great flavor from the smokiness to the hint of heat. If you don’t eat soy, consider replacing the textured vegetable protein with cooked lentils or chopped up cooked portobello mushrooms, both would be delicious. And as always with my recipes, play with the sauce, make it your own, add more heat, take out the sriracha if you don’t want any spiciness, add in your favorite BBQ sauce, etc. Play!
When I was contacted recently by the very sweet and lovely, Cara, from Forks & Beans, to share a recipe with her readers, I immediately thought of this one. Cara encourages us to have fun with our food, play with it, make it exciting and I am not sure what is more fun and whimsical that sloppy joes. It’ll instantly transport you to being a kid and having your fingers and face covered in sauce.
This recipe was originally shared on Fork & Beans. Please do head over there and make sure that you have some time to spend on Cara’s site, you’ll want to click around and check out all of her incredibly fun and delicious looking gluten-free and vegan recipes, your mouth will be watering in just a few short minutes.
[print_this]Sloppy Joes – Gluten-free + Vegan
Makes 6-8 servings- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion (or 1/2 of a large), diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups textured vegetable protein TVP – (cooked green lentils or chopped up cooked portobello mushrooms would also be great here)
- 1 28-ounce can of organic crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup organic tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (make sure it is gluten-free and vegan)
- 1-2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (optional)
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon stoneground or wholegrain mustard
- 1 tablespoon maple sugar (brown sugar or any other sugar of your choice)
- 3/4 – 1 cup water (you may need a little more if it is too thick)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in large sauté pan over a medium heat. Add diced onion,
green bell pepper and garlic, sauté for 5 to 8 minutes.Add the TVP, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce,
sriracha sauce, liquid smoke, mustard, maple sugar, 3/4 cup of water, salt
and pepper to the sauté pan. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 40 –
45 minutes. Stirring often. You may find you want to add more water if it
seems too thick. Serve on gluten-free/vegan hamburger rolls.[/print_this]
